I have had enough.....

speedman, I concur with John Welsh...'79 Cad Seville with a LS of some pedigree sporting a ThreePedals manual trans conversion (t56), big brakes (vette donor),rolling on no less than 17's.....silver, vinyl roof too, and a rust/cinnamon interior

In reply to speedman: Trucks can easily fit your goals.. I had a 1997 Chevy that I owned for 20 years and put 371,000 miles on it.. Regularly that thing went from coast to coast or half way across country.. I replaced it with a New Ford version. and a month ago I drove from Minneapolis to San Diego in 31 hours. Stopping for an hour and half at a roadside rest..

Me? I'm fat and nearly 69 years old and if it wasn't extremely comfortable I would/could never do it..

If I wanted to do a domestic hooligan ride. I would go F100/F150/C10/Ram or full-size domestic.

Inspiration

Muscle Truck. There is nothing cheaper.

How about a C1500 with a 454 and a 5 speed from a GRM member?

I have no new options to add. A lot of good ones are listed above. So instead, I'll tell you about my experience with some of those good options.

I currently daily drive an '03 P71 (cop) crown vic and it is great. New enough to have all the amenities I want but old enough to not have other pesky ones. I do outside sales and call on ~10 customers per day from next door to 80 miles away. We drove it to Colorado a couple years back and it was great blasting across KS with the cruise set at ~83 MPH.

That is the newest car I have ever owned. Plenty modern for my tastes (but clearly, my tastes don't suit all).

Then I have several projects (not much driving experience in them yet) that I want to accomplish similar goals to yours: Be able to hop in and drive anywhere confidently.

2 G-bodies:

an '83 Regal wagon that I'm really looking forward to cruising in

and a Malibu 2 door that has room for the family. It's a little ratty but should be very reliable soon.

And then I have a couple of fox-bodies. The mustang isn't one I plan to be very civilized. But the Fairmont...that one I want to be able to cruise in Air-conditioned style with the whole family.

Probably not as easy as a G-body to get in and out of...so I'm guessing it's not going to be optimal for you...but just bringing it up as one to try on for size.

And I have an '89 chevy shortbed (regular cab). I'm rougly 6' and a standard cab truck has always been just sufficient for me. I can see it becoming less so as I get north of 40 and 200 lbs (both are happening). But it, like the P71, is a good combination of as-modern-as-I-care-for and old enough to pique the interest of automotive enthusiasts. Fuel injection, overdrive, nice ride, but still RWD and can have some fun with power/suspension/exhaust some day if I want.

as mentioned above...if you like this style but want something different...maybe find a 2wd Blazer/tahoe. Probably more legroom potential plus cargo space for roadtrips and a backseat for the grandkids (Or mom can do the burnout in front of her house WITH you and the grandkids if you want!)

I also have an '83 Suburban 4x4. It'll never be a hotrod, but it has potential if you want or need 4x4. It won't get respectable fuel mileage or have great road manners for those 1K mile trips, I think.

More thoughts:

Dakota, either in R/T flavor or not. If not you can find extended cab trucks with 5.2 Magnums in them. Or I'm pretty sure a Magnum V8 bolts in place of a Magnum V6. If you enjoy the idea of a V8 mid size truck with little aftermarket support, but want don't want a Magnum, LS swaps have been done and are simple. I believe the last LS swapped Dakota I saw used pretty much all stock GMT800 front accesories, oil pan, intake, and exhaust manifolds.

Colorado, later crew and extended cab trucks came with the 5.3 as an option but are rare. But that means factory parts exist to put an LS into whatever Colorado you can find cheap.

Trailblazer. An SS is probably out of budget but they exist with 5.3s in them, or the 4200 is pretty interesting with boost.

First off I have been busy the last few days, but I want to say thank you all for your ideas. This why I like GRM so much because as a group you can think of things I don't.

To start with I agree about a truck. In my mind every family needs a truck. Currently I have a 09 Silverado. I fit great in it, but may have to consider doing stuff to it.

Never would have thought of a Crown Vic / Marauder or Buick wagon -- differently something to look into. In addition the neighbor down the street has 4 Lincoln's only 2 people in his house drive. He does have a Mark 8 that he tried to sell last summer and still has it. May have to look into that one.

For right now time will tell. I am going to spend the next while looking into each of your ideas. When I finally get something I will let the forum know. But for now keep safe and try to stay out of trouble.

GRM just found your solution. This sounds kinda perfect to me:

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/a-6-speed-fleetwood-brougham-who-did-this/129501/page1/

speedman wrote: But for now keep safe and try to stay out of trouble.

bwahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!

Get a load of this guy here.

In reply to Chadeux:

There's one of the V8 Colorados on the local CL right now. Low mileage, but still seems like a rather steep asking price. https://harrisburg.craigslist.org/cto/6120094566.html

In reply to Furious_E:

They always seem to go for stupid money, I've been lead to believe there just weren't very many of them. I also feel like not enough people care to make them worth what people want to ask for them.

Gen 1 Cadillac CTS 3.6L w/6spd manual trans. Comfy, 25mpg, a ton of fun to drive, and 1st gear so low you can easily light up the tires after you're already rolling without popping the clutch.

I've got a 94 volvo 940turbo sedan for sale, $1200, I'm a bigger guy and it's comfortable, it goes where I want it too, only needs a little tlc